Criterion-based Assessment, Grading and Reporting at Year 12 Level

While the move towards criterion-referenced assessment in Australia represents a step in the right direction, the path is fraught with political and technical hazards. Advocates of criterion-referenced assessment tend to overdraw the distinction between norm and criterion-referenced assessment, and to play down the difficulties inherent in spelling out criteria and setting standards at the Year 12 level. Nevertheless it is a good idea to try to clarify the domains of each subject (integrated structures of knowledge and ability which underly areas of expertise) and to experiment with new tools and technologies being developed by measurement specialists. We must also recognize that we cannot hope to improve the art of assessing the quality of students' work by an infinite expansion along a scientific-technological path in all areas of the curriculum. In many areas, we will always be dependent on the expertise and judgment of connoisseurs, and judgments will always represent an uncertain blend of criteria derived from the subject and the assessors on the one hand, and norms ebbing from those being assessed on the other.